A change of date for the 11th annual Lucrana Simmentals Annual On-Property Sale is set to provide myriad benefits for first-time and repeat buyers at the sale.
Lucrana stud principal Andrew Moore said the new sale date of Friday, August 12, was decided upon in consultation with his clients as it was closer to most of their calving seasons.
"August is more desirable for them, as they'll have a clearer picture of their bull requirements after already having conducted preg testing and pre joining checks of their existing sire batteries," Mr Moore said.
He said another plus of a later sale date is the greater opportunity to utilise fodder crops for bull preparation.
"This means that the bulls can be fed less concentrate, creating a rumen conditioned to a higher fibre diet resulting in bulls that adapt quickly to the pasture at their new home with minimal let down."
The sale, which will start at 12pm on Lucrana, 35km south east of Texas, comprises 60 lots consisting of 40 Traditional and Red Simmentals and 20 Black Simmentals, made up of 40 rising two year old's and 20 yearlings. The later sale date has afforded Mr Moore the chance to offer a line of 13 to 14 month old yearlings.
"Some yearlings were offered at last year's sale for which the feedback was positive. It was on the back of this that I've decided to offer an increased number of yearlings in this years sale."
He said the potential benefits of purchasing a yearling bull is twofold, saying:
- They're an economic alternative for the smaller breeder that can get an additional year out of them compared to the two year old's
- The other plus is for northern clients with more extensive enterprises, whereby the yearling bulls can be grown out and developed in their new environment, meaning they are fully acclimatised to that environment, before being put to work.
An increased number of Black Simmentals will be offered this at the sale. with the Black yearling draft of 10 bulls representing the tops of the 2021 drop.
"We've been focussing in on Black Simmentals for a number of years now and we're gradually breeding up our Black female herd from the initial foundation animals. We're finding the Black Simmentals offer cattle producers a package of easy calving yet explosive growth and great carcase attributes."
Lucrana has been focussing on increasing the number of polled cattle in the herd without compromising on quality.
"Around 85 per cent of this years draft are polled. Bulls will also be DNA tested for the poll gene to identify any Homozygous Polled individuals. These results will be made available prior to the sale."
Mr Moore said potential buyers can attend the sale with confidence knowing they're securing genetics from a committed breeder with a program backed by 36 years of selection for commercially relevant traits.
"These bulls are the progeny of a breeder herd run under tough commercial conditions in hill country at Texas. The Lucrana cattle have a reputation of handling a variety of conditions.
"In the Traditional section of the catalogue the predominant sire is Wormbete Lincoln while the Black draft includes many sons of Lucrana Yellowstone N462 and St Pauls Justice."
He said the Simmental cross is highly sought after in todays market.
"The crossbred Simmental offers tremendous market flexibility. They can be turned off at any age and into a range of markets. This flexibility is important in times of global uncertainty."
Past buying support for the sale has predominantly come from Central and Western Queensland through to the Northern Rivers and Northern Tablelands of New South Wales.
"Last years sale provided ample buying opportunity for a range of budgets with bulls selling from $5000 to the sale top of $35,000 on the day. Affordable quality are the keywords for the sale.
"Local seasonal conditions have been excellent in the lead-up to this year's sale, so we have high hopes that another solid day of selling will ensue."
Those unable to attend the sale in person can bid online through Elite Livestock Auctions. The catalogue will be on the Lucrana Simmentals website from mid July.
To arrange pre-sale inspections of the sale draft and for enquiries please contact Andrew Moore or the selling agents, Robbie Bloch from C.L. Squires & Co, and Nutrien Livestock's Colby Ede.
